NBA: Rivers, Celtics find themselves at a crossroads

If anyone thinks they know what Doc Rivers will be doing next season, raise your hand. Now use that hand to slap yourself in the face because you’re lying.

No one, not even Rivers, knows for sure what’s in store for him or, unfortunately, the Celtics.

According to Yahoo! Sports, the Celtics’ coach flew back to his home in Orlando Friday after negotiations between the Celtics and the Clippers broke down this week for the second time — maybe third or fourth, we’ve lost count. The Celtics wanted at least a 2014 first-round pick to allow Rivers out of his contract so he could coach the Clippers, but the Clippers reportedly offered only a future second-round pick and that was after they had earlier refused to give the Celtics anything at all.

The Clippers decided they’d focus on Rivers first and would try to acquire Kevin Garnett for DeAndre Jordan at a later date after NBA commissioner David Stern told ESPN Radio Thursday that simultaneous deals between teams were prohibited.

Of course, all of this information has been reported from unidentified “sources,” not on the record from Rivers, Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge or the Clippers. That was about to change on Friday. With trade talks involving Rivers and Garnett stalled, at 9:30 a.m. the Celtics informed the media that Rivers and Ainge would come out of hiding and conduct a press conference at HealthPoint in Waltham at noon. Finally, the media and Celtics fans would get some answers.

But an hour later, the Celtics rescheduled the press conference for noon Monday. The postponement led some to wonder if the Clippers had heard about the press conference and resumed negotiations for Rivers. But Friday afternoon, word broke that the talks had broken off yet again. According to Yahoo! Sports, a source directly involved in what had been the resumed talks declared, “The deal is completely dead.” But if Celtics fans have learned anything from this circus that the Celtics and Clippers have created this week, it’s that negotiations never completely die.

Earlier in the week, Ainge told the Boston Globe that the trade talks were “dead,” but they were revived the next day. So you never know. Even if someone referred to the trade talks now as, “No, this time, I mean it. They’re really, really, really dead,” no one should be surprised if they resumed at some point.

Nevertheless, Yahoo! Sports reported that Rivers has grown tired of the on-and-off negotiations and will no longer pursue the Clippers’ job. If that’s true, he’ll have to decide whether to return for a 10th season in Boston to coach a team he’s obviously lost interest in coaching or go back to broadcasting for less money, but less stress. The TV job seems to be the more likely option, so it’s safe to say that ESPN’s Hubie Brown and TNT’s Shaquille O’Neal were rooting for Rivers to get the Clippers job.

This mess that the Celtics and Clippers created has kept Twitter busy all week. The craziest tweet was the Celtics were going to ship Paul Pierce to Cleveland for two second-round picks. What’s next? Shipping Lucky the Leprechaun to Chicago for Benny the Bull?

Ainge has wasted far too much time talking to the Clippers when he should be preparing for the NBA Draft, which will be held Thursday. The Celtics own the 16th pick, their highest since they took Jeff Green with the fifth pick in 2007 and sent him to Seattle for Ray Allen. Any pick the Celtics would get from the Clippers wouldn’t be as high as that.

If Rivers doesn’t end up with the Clippers, Chris Paul may sign elsewhere. Houston is atop the rumor list. But Celtics fans don’t care about the Clippers, who never seem to do anything right. Celtics fans want to know if Rivers, Garnett and Pierce will return next season. If not, they want to know who will take their places. Maybe Ainge will tell everyone in Monday’s press conference, unless it’s postponed yet again.